By Gerry Storch

The Williams sisters proved once again at the US Open… Serena by winning it and Venus coming the closest to defeating her… why they are the two best US tennis players to ever step foot on the court .

In every tournament they both enter, you realize that only one player can beat them… and that’s the other sister. It may not always happen that way, but it usually does. They are the most powerful to ever play the game…both hold the tour’s fastest serve record of 129mph…and fastest side to side and back to front. Their many championships playing doubles together (seven Grand Slams, two Olympics) give them dexterity and volley quickness that others lack. Their unparalleled tenacity, as opponent after opponent has learned, means you can take a set from them, especially when they’re just going through the motions, but just try to shut them down.

Their casual approach to participating in non-slam events over the years in favor of fashion and film/TV projects has drawn criticism, but it’s a smart strategy that has kept them fresh and allowed them to recover from injuries sustained. for his furious style of play. .. and is it so bad to have a life?

As for who’s better, we’ll pick Serena, as she’s won nine Grand Slam titles…including all four majors…and been to three other finals. Venus has won the US Open twice and ruled Wimbledon with five victories, making two other finals in each, and taking Olympic gold in singles in 2000, but never triumphing in Australia or France, being a finalist there once each.

Here is the rest of our top 10. The numbers in brackets signify the number of Grand Slam titles won and runners-up. And by American tennis player we mean born and bred… that excludes Monica Seles and Martina Navratilova, who became US citizens only after their careers were well advanced. If we had counted them, Martina would be number 3 and Monica number 8.

3. Chris Evert (18.16). He influenced a generation of players with his two-handed backhand and his calm demeanor. He flourished on all surfaces, winning two Australians, seven French, three Wimbledons and six US Opens. He was world number 1 seven times. In Evert’s 80 classic duels against the bigger and stronger Navratilova, she nearly went even…going 37-43 in their rivalry.

4. Maureen Connolly (9.0). The 5-foot-5 “Little Mo” had a brief but spectacular career interrupted by a riding accident in 1954 that shattered his leg at age 19. At the time, she had become the first woman to complete a Grand Slam. she in 1953. she won three consecutive US championships (1951-53) and Wimbledon (1952-54). That zero in the stats column is key; she has never lost a Grand Slam final and, in fact, she has won all nine Grand Slam tournaments in which she has participated.

5.Billie Jean King (12.6). King was the queen of Wimbledon, winning a tournament record 20 titles (six singles, 10 doubles, four mixed). Despite standing just 5-foot-4, she used a serve-and-volley style to become World No. 1 five times between 1966 and 1972, but gained even more attention for two things… 1) whipping Bobby Riggs in the “Battle of the Sexes” before 30,472 at the Astrodome in 1973 and 2) becoming the first prominent female athlete to come out as gay.

6. Helen Wills Moody (19.3). Nicknamed “Little Miss Poker Face” and the country’s first major women’s tennis star, Moody won all 19 of her major titles (eight at Wimbledon, seven in the US, four in France) without ever playing in the Australian Open. Usually drawn to a white sailor suit, from 1927 to 1932, she did not lose a singles set anywhere. Tennis seems to have been good for her longevity…she died in 1998 at age 92, leaving $10 million to the University of California.

7. Althea Gibson (5.2). Powerful and athletic, Gibson won back-to-back United States and Wimbledon singles crowns in 1957 and 1958. She was the first black woman to win those titles. She could also excel on slow clay, winning the French and Italian championships in 1956. She later became a professional golfer.

8. Doris Hart (6.11). As a child, Hart watched people play tennis from her hospital window after surgery. She replayed the game and won all four slam singles. In 1951 at Wimbledon, she claimed the singles, women’s doubles, and mixed doubles titles with the loss of just one set.

9. Lindsey Davenport (3.3). She got fit and became a champion, winning the Australian, Wimbledon, and US Open….and let’s not forget, she took Olympic gold in 1996 in Atlanta. In an era of stormy teenage tennis, her stability and her good sportsmanship were welcome virtues. Of course, her being 6-foot-2 and having the most powerful groundstrokes in the game, or close to it, didn’t hurt.

10. Tracy Austin (2.0). Best known today as a television commentator, Austin came and went like a comet, being sidelined from a great race by a sore back. Before he forced her to retire at age 20, he managed to win the US Open twice and performed at the highest level, beating Evert in one final and Navratilova in the other. The 5-foot-5 baseline master was the youngest ever to win the event…16 years, 9 months…and remains the youngest all-time tournament winner on the women’s circuit (14 years in Portland).